Improvement in warming houses by steam



S. 1. GOLD.

Heating Apparatus.

Patented Oct. 3. 1854.

N. PETERS. PholmLiflvogn-ylhen Wallllngloll, D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE.

STEPHEN J. GOLD, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN WARMING HOUSES BY STEAM.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 11,747, dated October3, 1854.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, STEPHEN J. GOLD, of New Haven, in the county of NewHaven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Apparatus for Heating Buildings; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description of theconstruction and operation of the same, reference being had to theannexed drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1is a perspective view of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is a sectional view ofthe same. Fig. 3 is a section of condenser and radiator, taken throughthe rivets fastening the plates. Fig. 41s a section of same, takenbetween the rivets. Fig. 5 shows the several steps of the process offastening the plates forming the chambers E and E.

Similar characters of reference in the several figures denote the samepart of the apparatus.

The object of this apparatus is the heating of buildings by radiationfrom broad thin chambers made the receivers and condensers of steamgenerated in a suitable boiler connected with the heaters and otherwisearranged, as will be described.

The invention refers to the construction of the condensers and radiatorsand manner of regulating the action of the steam and condensation of thesame.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe the construction and operation of the same.

In the drawings, a is the boiler and furnace, set 1n masonry T, as shownin Fig. 2, in being the furnace, fed by the opening a and surrounded bythe boiler j, while the fluef is carried around the outer surface of theboiler.

J is the grate, shown in a revolved position, and I is a conical valvefilling the feed-openin g n and regulating the draft of the furnace.

The above-described construction of boiler and furnace is not essentialto my heating apparatus, as any suitable boiler and furnace may beemployed.

Forming a portion of the main steam-pipe B is the chamber C, in which isa valve h of sufficient weight to resist the pressure of the head ofsteam required and capable of being lifted when the pressure of thesteam rises above the required head, so that the surplus steam will passby the pipe B to the condensing-chamber E, the construction of whichwill be hereinafter set forth. This chamber E is immersed in a cistern Dof cold water, and is connected with the boiler by the pipe B, a portion7; of which may be formed of a glass tube, for purposes hereinafter tobe set forth.

The radiating and condensin chamber E is connected with the main pipeTby the pipe 0', the valve 0 regulating the admission of steam to thesaid radiating and condensing chamber. But one radiating-chamberis shownin the drawings, though in practice one of such chambers is to besituated in each apartment to be warmed, the connecting-pipes of whichall enter the main pipe B between the boiler and the valve 7t.

The condensing-chamber E and the radiating and condensing chambers orheaters E are each composed of two plates t a, of thin sheet metalfastened together and packed so as to be steam-tightin the followingmanner,

reference being had to Fig. 5.

Diagram V shows the largest plate 25 turned up around the edge of theplate uand a cord 9 placed upon the plate it and against the turned-upportion of the plate t. The upright portion of the plate 25 is nextturned down, as seen at V, and then both plates are turned up, bringingthe cord 9 upon the edge of plate 11, as shown at X. Bot-h plates arethen turned down, as at Y, and flattened, as at Z, the edge of plate abeing, during the operation, forced into the cord g throughout thelength of said edge, so as to form a perfeet steam-tight packing in acheap and expeditious manner. The plates are also fastened at variouspoints of their surface by rivets f passed through both plates, oneplate being indented to bring its surface in contact with the otherplate at the point of riveting, as shown in Figs. 1 and Thisconstruction enables the thin metal to resist the pressure of the steam.

The pipe B has in its upper surface a perforation R, the importance ofwhich will be seen in the following description of the operation of myimproved apparatus.

It will be understood from the above de scription that the heating ofthe building is to be produced by the continual condensation of steam inthe sevcral chambers E, connected cu Instances.

with the main pipe B, A description of the action of the steam in theapparatus figured in the drawings will illustrate, therefore, thegeneral operation of the heating apparatus, however modified inconstruction and arrangement of parts by location and other cir- Theboiler being supplied with water and the fuel in the furnace ignited,steam will be evolved, and passing into the pipe B, as shown by arrow 1,will, within the limit of the weight of the valve h, exert a pressure onthe water in the boiler, forcing a portion of it intothe tube It; untilan equilibrium is produced between the pressure of thehead of steam andthe hydrostatic column in the tube 7.7, the height of which column isdependent on the pressure of steam perm'itted by the weight of the valveh, and the production of which is due to the perforation R in the top ofthe pipe I3". That such is the eflect of the perforation R isevidentfromwell-known philosophical principles (not here requiringdemonstration,) as the surplus air is necessarily expelled by pressureand the column in the tube 7.; acted upon by uncompressed air. Theconstruction of the said tube of glass permits the height of the columnto be seen. hen the pressure of the steam exceeds the weight of thevalve h, (which is adjusted to the head required,) the valve rises andpermits the passage of the surplus steam through the pipe B to thecondensing-chamber E, as indicated by arrows 2 and 3, and when theequilibrium is restored the valve drops. The steam which enters thechamber E is instantly condensed as said chamber is immersed in the coldwater of the well D, and is by its construction calculated to effectspeedy condensation. The water from the condensing-chamber flows throughthe pipe 13 to the boiler, as indicated by arrows 4, 5, and 6.

The above description shows the operation of the apparatus in preservingthe equilibrium of the head of steam and the hydrostatic column on thesupposition that there is no communication with the radiatingchamber.lVhen, therefore, the valve 0 is opened, a supply of steam will flowthrough the pipe 0'' to the chamber E, and being there distributed intoa thin stratum between the plates 23 u is immediately condensed and theheat evolved in condensation radiated from the surface of the chamber,the water flowing back to the boiler by the pipes 0" and B. The chamberE is regulated in size by the cubic contents of the apartment to bewarmed and is placed in any convenient position and has its surfacesuitably ornamented.

The valve 0 regulates the supply of steam admitted to theradiating-chamber; but besides that adjustment the chamber is providedwith a valve 0' O, communicating with the external air and a tube S,(see Fig. 3,) which reaches nearly to the bottom of the chamber and atits lower extremity opens into said chamber. The object of this valveand tube is the expulsion of air from the chamber on the admission ofthe steam, so that the whole surface of the heater may act. The air,whensteam is admitted to the chamber, will be forced into the corners, asshown by dotted lines in Fig. 1. Consequently itmust be discharged fromthe bottom, and as there would be a drip from the condensed steam if thevalve 0 O was placed in the lower portion ot the chamber the tube S isused, so as to receive the air at the bottom of the chamber anddischarge it by the valve 0 O at the top. .The valve also serves toadmit any desired quantity of-air to the chamber E when but a smalldegree of heat is desired in the apartment, the effect being to diminishthe diffusion of steam in the chamber and consequently decrease theradiating-surface of the heater.

The valve 0 O of the chamber E serves as a means of furnishing water tothe boiler from the cistern D, though another opening to the boiler isprovided, which is not shown in the drawings.

The advantage of this apparatus for heating buildings consists in agreat measure in the economy of fuel which it admits of, asa very lowpressure of steam is required for the heating purpose, the thin sheetsforming the condensing and radiating chambers producing rapidcondensation and radiation. This advantageous result of the use of thinsheets in the construction of the chambers is due to the peculiar modeof securing their sides by the rivets f and the manner of fastening andpacking their edges, which enables the thin sheets to bear the strain ofthe steam without leakage.

The self-regulating property of this appa ratus is another advantage inits use. This is owing to the perforation R in the pipe 13, which formsthe hydrostatic column for sustaining the head of steam necessary forthe heatingoperation, while all steam above the required pressure ispassed to the condenser and returned as water to the boiler through thehydrostatic column. This self-regulating property gives a security tothe use of steam as a heater not possessed by any other apparatus, asnothing is required but to keep up the fire, and the necessary amount ofsteam, and no more, will be conveyed to the condensers and radiators inthe several apartments to be warmed.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The combination of generator, radiator, and condenser, as hereindescribed, for the purpose of heating buildings when the con nect-ionbetween the generator and condenser is perforated, as specified, so asto admit of the formation of a hydrostatic column balancing the pressureof steam on the valve h and permitting the water from the condensationof the steam to return to the generator, as hereinbefore specified.

2. The mode of regulating the quantity of outward pressure of the steamin a simple and economical manner, the mode of securing the sheets bystays, as used by Watt and others, being expressly disclaimed, as alsothe employment of the thin metallic sheets as radiators.

In testimony whereof I havehereunto signed my name before twosubscribing witnesses.

STEPHEN J. GOLD. Witnesses:

GEO. PATTEN, SAML. GRUBB.

